Thread parting, clamping and detecting mechanism

ABSTRACT

A filling yarn parting and clamping mechanism for automatic filling replenishing looms including means for sensing the presence of yarn held by said mechanism and for automatically stopping the loom upon indication of yarn absence.

United States Patent [72] 'lnventors William E. Turner RelerencesCitedUNITED STATES PATENTS Spartanburg, S.C.;

Albert R. Ferrier, Woonsoeket, R.I. [21] P 2,444,285 6/1948 Doss.....[22] 2748 808 6/1956 Lovely ,[45] Patented: Aug.17,1971 I 1 l [73]Assignee North American Rockwell Corporation m y Ex n -H nry J au nPittsburgh, Pa. 4 Attorney-John R. Bronaugh [54] THREAD PARTING,CLAMPING AND DETECTING MECHANISM 5 Claims, 5 Drawing Figs.

ABSTRACT: A filling yam parting and clamping mechanism for automaticfilling replenishing looms including means for sensing the presence ofyarn held by said mechanism and for automatically stopping the loom uponindication of yarn absence. i

[51] Int.Cl................... [50] Field of 48 4 653% on 3 wd36 33 m u6 3 3 PATENIED AUG! 7 l97| SHEU 1 BF 2 m T N E V m WILLIAM [TURNERALBERT RFERRIER ATTORNEY PATENTEUAucmsn 3599.878

sum 2 [1F 2 INVENTOR WILLIAM E.TURNER BY ALBERT R.FERRIER 0M (2 WATTORNEY THREAD PARTING, CLAMPING AND DETECTING MECHANISM BACKGROUND OFTHE INVENTION The invention relates to fly-shuttle looms of theautomatic filling replenishing-type which upon indication for fillingreplenishment, a filling yarn parting and clamping mechanism isautomatically moved to a position for receiving, cutting and holding thelength of yarn which extends from the nearly exhausted bobbin to theedge of the fabric.

Complaints on failure of the parting and clamping mechanism to hold anend of filling ya'rn after it has been severed isno't uncommon and isconsidered a very serious and undesirable condition. This length offillingyarn, which extends from the shuttle box where it was severed tothe fabric edge, if not held, will become entangled with the moving layand component parts thereof and result, as has been experienced on manyoccasions, with said filling yarn being cartied into the fabric.

. Yarn carried into the fabric in this manner is termed a dragin whichrequires excessive time for its removal and excessive numbers thereofresults in fabric of inferior quality.

The thread parting, clamping and detecting mechanism according to theinstant invention is provided with a means for sensing the. presence offilling yarn being held by the blade member thereof. Should these blademembers fail to hold the filling yarn, the means for sensing is adaptedto cooperate with an element carried by the loom which initiates theautomatic cessation thereof.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION The thread parting, clamping and detectingmechanism of the present invention includes the usual fixed and movableblade members that are carried on a slidablesupporting bracket which isadapted to move said blade members to and away from filling partingposition.

An arm member is carried by the supporting bracket and being movabletherewith is caused to pivot in timed relation with the opening andclosing of the mechanisms blade members. The end of the arm memberdefines a sensing element that forms a part of the loom 's stop motioncircuitry and is arranged to pivot in the direction of the filling yarnafter it has been cut and held. If the filling yarn is being held, thesensing element will make contact with it and further pivoting movementthereof is restricted. If the blade members fail to hold the end offilling yarn the sensing element will pivot beyond the normal positionof the held end of filling yarn and make contact with a switchingcontactmember carried by the loom to I complete the circuitry forstopping said loom.

A specific object of the invention is to provide a filling yarndetecting device adapted to function in cooperation with the looin'sthread parting and clamping mechanism which will automatically stop saidloom upon failure of saidmechanism to hold a cut end of filling.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWING FIG. 1 is a perspective view of aportion of a loom showing the mechanism according to the inventionapplied thereto.

FIG. 2 is a perspective view of the thread parting, clamping anddetecting mechanism illustrated in FIG. 1 showing the means for pivotingthe sensing element in an upwardly direction. FIG. 3 is a perspectiveview of the mechanism illustrated' in FIG. 2 showing the spring memberfor biasing the sensing element in a downwardly direction.-

FIG. 4 is a view in side elevation and partially in section showingfurther detail of the spring member in FIG. 3 and s is-a schematic viewof the circuitry of which the sensing element forms a part forautomatically stopping the loom.

DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENT Referring now to FIG. 1 whereinonly as much of convenunderstanding of the invention, there is showngenerally at 10 a portion of the loombattery which includes a bobbindisc 11, small end disc 12 and a thread guide 13. A plurality of fillingbobbins. 14 are positioned between the bobbin disc and small end disc,the latter of which are rotated in a known manner on each fillingreplenishment indication for maintaining a new bobbin position for eachsubsequent transfer.

A portion of the transferrer is shown at 15 and is pivotably assembledon a transferrer stud 16. This transferrer studincludes a torsion typespring 16. for providing the necessary biasing force on the transferrerl5 and a collar 17 for fixedly positioning one end of said spring. Oneend of the transferrer stud 15 is supported by the battery's hopperstand 18 which in the usual manner is attached to the upper and forwardrighthand side of a loom. The transferrer stud extends outwardly pendingarm 23 to which a filling knife carrier bracket 24 is assembled by meansof a bolt 25.

A horizontally disposed filling knife carrier slide 26 attaches to theunderside of the filling knife carrier bracket by means of capscrews 27and 28 and includes a channellike groove 29 in which a supportingbracket 30 is assembled for sliding movement. supporting bracket 30, asshown in FIGS. 1 and 2, is provided with an integrally formed, laterallyand upwardly directed arm 31 which adjacent its upper end is adapted tosupport a well-known filling thread parting and clamping mechanismgenerally indicated by numeral 32. As shown in FIGS. 1 and 2, thismechanism includes a plurality of blade members held in juxtaposedrelation by means of a bolt 33 and nut 34. Certain blade members arefixedly positioned as those indicated by numeral 35 and other pivotablesuch as those depicted by numeral 36.

A blade member 37 as shown in FIG. 2 provides the means for moving thepivotable blade members in a known manner by a laterally extending ear38 which forms the forward most end thereof. This ear is angularlydisposed and as the thread parting and clamping mechanism is caused tomove to and fro on transfer indications the ear makes contact with a cammember or so-called filling knife trip 39 to effect a scissors motion ofthe blade members. I n V The filling knife trip 39 is journaled in aboss 40 that forms the inner and upper ends of the filling knife carrierslide 26. This filling knife trip is pivotable and in a known manner theear 38 is caused to move over the top thereof to open the blade memberswhen the partingand clamping mechanism is caused to be moved to threadparting position. When returning to its initial position, the ear 38contacts' the lower surface of the filling knife trip which is effectiveinclosing the blade members and the scissor action parts the filling andholds the end of filling all of which is well-known to those conversantin the art. A portion of the looms lay beam is shown at H and ineludesthe usual lay end 42 and front box plate 43 that forms a part of theshuttle box on the right-hand side of the loom. Upon indication forfilling replenishment the shuttle (not shown) enters the right-handshuttle box which moves with the lay to a position where the shuttle isin properalignr'nent with the battery It) for receiving a new bobbin I4.Prior to the actual transfer of a new bobbin, the thread parting andclamping mechanism is caused to move in a known mannei to that positionwhere the open blade members receive the length of filling extendingfrom the nearly exhausted bobbin to the edge of the fabric. As themechanism moves toward its initial posi- The means for detecting thepresence of yarn being held by the blade members and means forautomatically stopping the loom upon failure of said blade members tohold the yam will now be described.

The arm 31 of the supporting bracket 30 is provided on its upper endwith a laterally extending and integrally formed extension 44 (FIG. 3)which overlies a portion of the filling thread parting and clampingmechanism 32. The top of this extension 44 is provided with a pair ofaligned and integrally formed. lug elements 45 and 46 which are disposedin spaced relation and which include axial aligned apertures 47 and 48respectively. A stud 49 is journaled for oscillating movement withinapertures 47 and 48 and is disposed so as to extend in a plane normal tothe longitudinal extent of the blade members 35 and '36.

A pin 50 (FIGS. 2 and 3) is fixedly attached to and extends from theside of the stud 49 adjacent one end thereof and is adapted to maintaincontact with the ear 38 of the blade member 37. A torsion-type spring 51assembles on stud 49 inthe area intermediate lug elements 45 and 46 withone end thereof adapted to assemble in a hole 52 (FIGS. 3 and 4)provided in said stud. The spring encircles stud 49 with the oppositeend thereof in pressing contact with the side of extension 44 andcontinually urges this stud in an anticlockwise direction as viewed inFIGS. 2, 3 and 4. Stud 49 extends outwardly from each side of lugelements 45 and 46 and that end which extends beyond element 45 isthreaded as at 53. By means of a nut 54 an arm 55 is fixedly assembledon this'end of stud 49 and is disposed so as to extend in a plane normalto the axis'thereof. The end of arm 55 most remote from stud 49 carriesa filling yarn sensing element 55' and being movable with said am iscontinually urged in a downwardly direction as illustrated by theindicating arrow 56 in FIGS. 1, 2 and 3.

in FIGS. 2 and 3 the filling yarn is identified by numeral 57 and isadapted to restrict the downward movement of the sensing element 55. Ifthe blade members fail to hold the end of filling yarn 57 the arm 55will pivot with the sensing element 55', beyond the point at which itnormally senses the v filling and will engage a switching contact member58 that completes an electrical circuit for automatically stopping-theloom. This circuitry is shown schematically in FIG. and numerals 55 and58 therein denotes the sensing element and a switching contact memberrespectively.

Point 59 is connected to the looms auxiliary power source on thecoldside of the shipper handle switch (not shown) and power is applied tothe circuit only when the loom is in operation. A diode 60 and capacitor61 form a DC power supply that furnishes volts at 62. A resistor 63 isconnected to the switching contact member 58 provides approximately 100milliamperes of current through said member to break down any oxide filmon the contact surfaces. Point 64 is connected to the base of atransistor 65 as at 66 through a current limiting resistor 67. The timeconstant of resistor 67 and a capacitor 68 is sufficiently long enoughto provide noise rejection and prevent false triggering of the circuitby unwanted signals on the wire from the switching contact member58.'When the switching contact member is closed, transistor 65 isforward biased by resistor 63 and point 69 will be raised toapproximately 20 volts. Point 69 is connected to the gate 70 of asilicon controlled rectifier 71 through a current limiting resistor 72.Raising the voltage of point 69 will trigger the silicon controlledrectifier 71 on," and raise point 73 19 volts. Because of the DCpotential applied to this silicon controlled rectifier, it will, oncetriggered remain in a conducting state.

Noise rejection is provided at the silicon controlled rectifier 71 by acapacitor 74. With point .73 at 19 volts, a triac 75 is triggered on" bythe current flowing through a resistor 76 into a triac gate 77. Thistriac which is depicted by numeral 78 is connected to the loom s warpstop motion (not shown) and, when triggered, will energize a solenoid(not shown) that forms a part of the warp stop motion and stop the loom.Noise ,rejection is provided at the triac 78 by a resistor 79 andcapacitor 80.

Once the above mentioned solenoid is energized, the loom will stop andthe shipper handle switch (not shown) will open, removing power from thecircuit and resetting the silicon controlled rectifier 71 to the ofistate.-

The switching contact member 58 is attached to the underside of the layend 42 by means of a screw 81 and extends in a forwardly direction so asto come within range of the sensing element during transfer of a bobbinl4. g I

In operation replenishment indications are initiated in a well-knownmanner by the loom's feeler mechanism (not shown) and through thelinkage interconnecting said'feeler mechanism with the thread partingand clamping mechanism, the latter is caused to move rearwardly towardthe shuttle on such indications.

At time of transfer the lay beam 41 is forward so as to position theshuttle, which is in the shuttle box, in alignment for receiving a fullywound bobbin from the battery 10. Prior to the actual transfer of abobbin the thread parting and clamping mechanism is moved to threadparting position. During this movement the ear 38 of the blade member 37is caused to ride over the upper surface of the filling-knife trip 39and pivot the forward end of said blade' member upwardly therebyseparating the blade members for receiving the length of fillingextending from the nearly exhausted bobbin to the edge of the fabric.

As the forward end of blade member 37 is pivoted upwardly, ear 38 actsupon pin 50 so as to pivot arm 55 and its sensing element 55 asufficient distance in an upwardly direction so as to clear the frontbox plate 43. Afterthis length spring 51 to pivot arm 55 and its sensingelement 55' also in a downwardly direction. If the end of filling yarn57 is being held by the blade members, full pivotal movement of arm 55is restricted by means of its sensing element 55' making contact withsaid filling yarn. Should the blade members fail to hold the end offilling yarn, the arm 55 will pivot beyond the normal position ofsensing the filling yarn and make contact with the switching contactmember 58 thereby completing the circuitry for automatically stoppingthe loom.

If it is desirable not to stop the loom but only indicate failure of theblade members to hold an end of filling yarn, arm 55 when making contactwith the switching contact member can be arranged to complete a circuitthat will illuminate a tell-tale bulb mounted on the loom or otherconvenient location.

We claim:

1. A filling yarn parting and clamping mechanism for automatic fillingreplenishing looms having a slidable supporting bracket for moving saidmechanism to and away from filling parting position, said mechanismincluding a. fixed and movable blade members for receiving, cutting andholding an end of filling yarn during replenishment of the latter,

b. detecting means comprising an arm member having a laterally extendingsupport rod for pivotably supporting said arm member on said supportingbracket, and

c. a yarn sensing element forming a part of the loom's stop motioncircuitry defining one end of said arm member and movable with thelatter to and from a position for sensing the presence of an end offilling yarn being held by said blade members.

2. The filling yarn parting and clamping mechanism according to claim 1wherein said arm member includes a biasing means for continually urgingsaid arm member and sensing element in the direction of the blademembers of said mechanism.

3. The filling yarn parting and clamping mechanism according to claim 2wherein said support rod includes a pin member having one end thereoffixed in said support rod and adapted 5. The filling yam parting andclamping mechanism according to claim 1 wherein said detecting meansfurther includes a switching contact member carried by the loom anddisposed so as to be contacted by said sensing element upon failure ofsaid blade members to hold the filling yarn, thereby completing thecircuitry for stopping said loom.

1. A filling yarn parting and clamping mechanism for automatic fillingrepleNishing looms having a slidable supporting bracket for moving saidmechanism to and away from filling parting position, said mechanismincluding a. fixed and movable blade members for receiving, cutting andholding an end of filling yarn during replenishment of the latter, b.detecting means comprising an arm member having a laterally extendingsupport rod for pivotably supporting said arm member on said supportingbracket, and c. a yarn sensing element forming a part of the loom''sstop motion circuitry defining one end of said arm member and movablewith the latter to and from a position for sensing the presence of anend of filling yarn being held by said blade members.
 2. The fillingyarn parting and clamping mechanism according to claim 1 wherein saidarm member includes a biasing means for continually urging said armmember and sensing element in the direction of the blade members of saidmechanism.
 3. The filling yarn parting and clamping mechanism accordingto claim 2 wherein said support rod includes a pin member having one endthereof fixed in said support rod and adapted to be pivoted by one ofsaid blade members for actuating said arm member.
 4. The filling yarnparting and clamping mechanism according to claim 2 wherein said biasingmeans comprises a torsion spring having one end attached to said supportrod and the opposite end thereof in contact with said support bracket.5. The filling yarn parting and clamping mechanism according to claim 1wherein said detecting means further includes a switching contact membercarried by the loom and disposed so as to be contacted by said sensingelement upon failure of said blade members to hold the filling yarn,thereby completing the circuitry for stopping said loom.